Trial and Error -- or, the Story of How Kyouya Finally Got Married
by wagahaiwaneko
Summary: Before Tamaki, Kyouya had one childhood friend, long since forgotten after she moved to America. But when she suddenly reappears 12 years later by climbing into Kyouya's room, what happens to the four years of peace and order Kyouya made for himself after host activities were ended? Kyouya/OC romantic comedy-drama - postanime/four years later.
1. Surprise Visits

1:30AM, Ootori Mansion, Kyouya's Room

 _Ootori Group, Annual Board Member Meeting_

 _Ootori Group, Year-End Financial Summary_

 _Ootori Group, Strategic Plan for the New Year_

Kyouya Ootori sat at his desk, a recent university graduate and newly minted Tokyo director of Ootori Group. He smiled slightly at the pile of meticulously prepared and reviewed documents he had ready for the big board meeting the next morning – _yes, I'm well-prepared and this proposal is bulletproof, surely everything will go smoothly._ He allowed himself to relish in a long stretch, then began to tidy his desk and prepare for bed.

"Kyouya!" A loud hiss came from his bedspace upstairs. "Kyouya!"

He froze. How – who – had gotten into his bedroom? Fuyumi was on holiday with her family in Bali, and his elder brothers (both married) were also in various locations internationally. His father should be fast asleep, and he was _certain_ nobody had come in through the bedroom door – he would have seen them from his desk.

Slowly, he turned to look up at the stairs, every hair on his body raised. Who was his intruder? Kyouya's hand moved slowly to the hidden button beneath his desk –

" _Dammit,_ Kyouya, don't press that! It's just me!"

"…Me who?" He spoke in a low voice, still trying to make out the identity of his intruder as they moved through the shadows upstairs. It wasn't Tamaki or a host – he knew that for sure. It was a woman.

He didn't have to guess anymore as long brunette hair attached to a lithe body blurred down his staircase. The intruder ran towards him and simultaneously wrapped him in a bear hug while slapping his hand away from the emergency button.

It then clicked. The hair, the faint smell of citrus and jasmine –

"Kyouya, you have to hide me out here until end of day tomorrow. You _have_ to, I don't have anywhere else to go and I'm _sick_ of being thrown into o-miai with creepy guys who are after Dad's money and – are you okay?"

The girl stepped back, surveying Kyouya as the color drained from his face.

"Honoka…" he barely managed. "What are you doing here?" Standing before him, dressed in a simple white blouse and dark denim, was the next-door neighbor, his only genuine childhood friend, and someone he hadn't seen since elementary school.

Honoka rolled her eyes. "I finished university too, you know – I've been traveling and just recently came back to begin working at the company like Dad wants. But I didn't think he'd throw me into o-miai this quickly! I'm too young to get married, let alone in a traditional way to a traditional guy – _Kyouya, save me,_ surely I can hide out here for the next 24 hours?"

And with that, she ran back upstairs to grab her backpack and change into sleepwear.

There were very few times in his life when Kyouya had been rendered absolutely speechless – and of those few, most were due to a certain French blond man. But two moments had been instigated by the woman in his bathroom. The first was at the airport when she left to study in America for middle school – and the second was now, when she announced her sleepover at their first reunion in twelve years.

Kyouya glanced down at his stack of yearly reports and proposals, heaving a sigh. _So much for everything going smoothly._

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading - please leave reviews! I'll respond to each individually.

Disclaimer: Don't own Ouran - just Honoka!


	2. The Plot Thickens

6:00AM, Ootori Mansion, Kyouya's Room, Upper Level (Sleeping Area)

"...Senpai?"

Kyouya stirred in his groggy state, feeling the irritation radiate from every fiber of his being. Who could _possibly_ think it was a good idea to wake him before his alarm _on the day of the Ootori Group Annual Boardmember Meeting_ , no less?

Then someone stirred in his arms.

His arms?

Horrified, he glanced down, and sure enough, a brunette wearing one of his button-down shirts was nestled happily into his arms. He thought back to last night - _ah, Honoka._ As if her appearance had been normal by any means - but nevermind that. He was helpless against her just as he was helpless against Tamaki.

Wait a damn minute. Honoka was fast asleep, a beatific soft smile gracing her face as she nestled into Kyouya's ( _completely unintentional)_ embrace - so who had spoken?

Kyouya's spine stiffened, and he slowly extricated himself from Honoka's grasp and sat up. His irritation skyrocketed immediately, as he surveyed the entire damn host club ( _hadn't he gotten rid of those dolts after high school?)_ peering at him at the foot of his bed, with expressions ranging from shock to bemusement on their faces. A slew of profane insults ready to steadily leave his mouth in cold, calculated rhythm, Kyouya braced himself to calmly show his friends the true force of his low blood pressure when one of the twins snapped a photo on his smartphone.

At 6am, in total, pin-dropping silence, the sound of the shutter was akin to a thunderclap.

"Hm! Yes! G'morning!" Honoka jolted up in bed, startled by the sound - and then took in the array of strangers staring open-mouthed at her. She blinked, then looked down. A white button-down.

She looked to her left.

A murderous Kyouya, topped with a serious case of pillow hair and radiating with fury.

She shrieked and scrambled off the bed in the shirt and her underwear (who slept with pants?!), bowing and apologizing profusely to the strangers before streaking off the bathroom to hide. Kyouya, in the meantime, directed his gaze straight into Tamaki's blue eyes. The blond gulped and the whole ex-host club took a wary step back.

"Ky-Kyouya…" Tamaki's voiced wavered. "Would you care to explain?"

He growled, then opened his mouth to speak, but not before he noticed Haruhi coming up the stairs holding a tray.

"Guys, a pretty woman just ran by me as I finished making coffee - oh." She read the room, then immediately knew what to do. She silently extended the tray to Kyouya, locking eyes with him and giving him a look with all the venom a small, short-haired attorney can, and urged him not to lose his cool.

 _You have the boardmember meeting. Keep your temper down and your demeanor cool._ Her large eyes seemed to warn him.

 _You can't keep your damn fiance in check, and this isn't what you think it is._ Kyouya's amethyst eyes spoke back. _But fine._

"Tamaki, you will still die a death with the ferocity of a thousand burning suns, but…" His voice low and steady, Kyouya began.

* * *

6:45AM, Ootori Mansion, Kyouya's Room, Lower Level (Lounge Area)

"I see!" Tamaki beamed, vigorously shaking hands with Honoka for about the third time in the past conversation. "You were taking care of Mommy before I came to Ouran - thank you so much for that, Honoka- _chan!"_

Honoka didn't miss a beat - "Are you kidding? Of course I took care of Kyouya. When I first met him, we were right about to enter Ouran's kindergarten - Kyouya was the only kid my age in this lonely, overly corporate neighborhood, so naturally I befriended him once I saw him. Kyouya's dad and my parents were not very happy when I first yelled at Kyouya from across the street, but they realized very quickly just how few children lived in the area and gave up."

A snort came out of Hikaru's nose. "Befriend? Kyouya doesn't make friends. Before Tamaki came into the picture, Kyouya was _known_ as the merciless class president. Even though he was a year above us, everyone knew his name and of his notoriety."

Crossing her legs on Kyouya's sofa, Honoka sat up and grinned. "Well, of course I knew that! But I quickly learned that befriending Kyouya is done by completely exhausting him until he obliges you. At first he wanted nothing to do with me, but I pestered him for quite some time until - at last! - he let me come over to study together."

The ex-hosts all turned their gaze upon Kyouya, who was seated next to Honoka on the couch, and was intently reading through his board meeting materials. When he felt their stares burning into the crown of his head, however, he looked up and sighed.

"What are you giving me that look for? I had no interest for silliness during high school, what makes you think I had interest for it in my youth?" He shook his head. "Anyway, that's enough storytime. I have a board meeting to get to - and don't all of you have jobs anyway?"

"Well, no -" Kaoru began, only to be cut off by Kyouya.

"- or university?" He gave Kaoru, his closest host club conspirator, a formidably angry glare.

"...I mean, I guess…"

Kyouya heaved another sigh. "I'm kicking you guys out. Tamaki, go back to the appointments you have with your grandmother. Haruhi, I expected you not to participate in such activities while you prepare your law school applications - and Hani-senpai, Mori-senpai… What about your dojos?"

* * *

The others protested, but Kyouya was having none of it. He didn't care why they had chosen that day of all days to surprise him (in fact, they had intended to throw a good luck celebration before his board meeting), he needed to wash up and get out the door. But there was one last thing to take care of.

"Honoka…" Kyouya turned to look at her as he stacked his materials. His voice was weary, and laced with something Honoka couldn't trace. "Of all days, this is probably the worst one for you to randomly re-enter my life. You can hide out here for today, but I think… We need to talk."

The brunette smiled brightly, but her grin faltered as she heard the fatigued and distanced tone Kyouya had. Neither of them were able to process the absurdity of the past 10 hours, but more importantly neither of them had the time to process the past 12 years.

Honoka stifled her conflicting, nervous emotions, and nodded gently. "Yeah. I'm… sorry for barging in like that. Old habits, I guess." He was right, her attempt to foster that same closeness they had all those years ago was farcical and forced… But she hadn't known where else to turn. They both sat on Kyouya's couch for a few minutes in contemplative silence, acknowledging the weight of the air between them.

* * *

It was too much, too suddenly - but neither could deny that their lives had been changed once again by the presence of the other.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Apologies for the somewhat rough change in tone - my work is typically un-beta'ed and I'm more or less writing this fic as the ideas come (as opposed to my others, which have been timelined out and planned. I want to make this fic something that balances humor, comedy, romance, and seriousness - so bear with me as I try something new!

Please please please leave reviews. They really help authors stay engaged with their content!


	3. Where it All Began

_6:00PM, Tokyo, Ootori Private Car_

"Kyouya." The gruff voice of Kyouya's father broke the contemplative silence between the two in the backseat of their private car. "You did well today. I made the right choice."

Kyouya smiled slightly to himself, fingering the black folio he always kept on his person. In high school, it had held the secrets of his classmates and the budgets of the host club - now it held private Ootori Group documents. The 23-year-old raised his head and bowed slightly to his father.

"Thank you. I strive to seek greater heights for the family and the company."

Yoshio Ootori tilted his head forward in acknowledgement. "Rightly so. However, there is one thing you have still failed me on."

Kyouya looked up sharply, his mind quickly running through a list of his duties and searching for any possible holes in his work.

"Yes, Father?"

Yoshio waved him off. "It will wait for another time." He gestured to the driver to stop before the Ootori residence. "I have a dinner engagement to attend, Kyouya, so I'll be letting you off here." He paused, watching his heir and third son exit the vehicle. "Ah - one last thing. Did you know that Yamamura Takeshi moved back into his residence next door?"

Kyouya froze upon hearing Honoka's father's name fall from his own father's lips. Bending down to see his father better, Kyouya rested his arm on the car door. "I didn't," he said coolly. "What of it?"

Looking through his own files, Yoshio hummed quietly. "Mm, I think after his daughter finished up undergraduate studies, she's back in Tokyo for law school. We should pay them a visit - I imagine he's returning to head the Tokyo office and we should be maintaining strong relationships." He glanced up at his son, surveying the younger Ootori's face carefully. "I'm surprised Honoka didn't contact you already." Yoshio then cleared his throat, gestured to Kyouya to close the door, and motioned for his driver to whisk them away.

Kyouya watched the black car drive away, glancing at Honoka's home afterward. The vast estate, once again lit with signs of human life, certainly brought back memories of Kyouya's childhood - he had very few friends in elementary school and nearly all of them had been forced into civil relations by their parents.

Before Tamaki, she had been his only true friend. It had taken him nearly a year to make peace with her leaving without so much as a goodbye and for the anger to subside… Was he really ready to face the woman currently camping out in his bedroom?

It was just as well, he thought, that his father had no idea.

* * *

 _"Honoka! Stop complaining and help bring your small bags into the house."_

 _"But I don't WANT to! I want to go back, I want to go back!"_

 _"We can't, Honoka - your father has decided to come back to the Tokyo office and we can't stay with Grandfather and Grandmother anymore. You're going to have to enter a new school and make new friends, you'll enjoy it. Now please - stop crying and help Mommy?"_

 _"I don't WANT TO!"_

 _"Honoka, hush. You're going to embarrass us in front of the neighbors!"_

 _Kanako Yamamura straightened as soon as she saw the Ootori family pull up along their street. She bowed deeply as about five or so people, all clad in black, stepped out of a long black car. She and her husband had introduced themselves the day previous - Takeshi had briefly met the head of the Ootori family, Yoshio, a few times over the years to discuss legal matters when needed - her older sister had known Yoshio from the same class at Ouran Academy._

 _For the first few years of Honoka's life, she and her husband had raised her in the United States, electing to live nearby to his retired parents and to help establish new Yamamura Law offices on the West Coast. But once his oldest brother had mysteriously passed away, it was on Takeshi to head the family business, and back to Tokyo they went._

 _Yoshio Ootori bowed wordlessly in return, not stopping for more than a few seconds._

 _Kanako felt a small body brush by her side - Honoka had wedged herself underneath Kanako's hand._

 _Honoka watched the solemn procession of the Ootoris, not completely understanding why they were all clad in black. She noticed someone who appeared around her age trailing behind the stern-looking man who just bowed - and she nearly called out to him. But something about his posture told her he was crying - so for now she held her tongue and looked questioningly up at her mother._

 _Kanako had heard the news through Takeshi. Murders were few and far between in modern Japan, and the murder of a prominent wife was even less common. She shook her head at Honoka, willing her daughter to be quiet._

 _"Mama," Honoka asked one day, a few months into their time in Tokyo. "Why is the Ootori boy so sad?"_

 _"You'll understand someday, Honoka-chan. But in the meantime, have you not tried to befriend him at preschool?"_

 _"I tried! I yelled his name out when he got dropped off, but he ignored me. Why does he always come home so late? Teacher lets the rest of us go home so early."_

 _Kanako's smile faltered upon hearing the tale of the Ootori third son's plight. She knew that he was kept at the preschool during after-hours daycare because Yoshio Ootori had neither the time nor the ability to bring his last son home early - thus Kyouya stayed at the school long after the other students had left, until the Ootori drivers were ready to pick him up._

 _"Don't give up, Honoka-chan. Everybody needs a friend."_

* * *

 _Present Day, Ootori Mansion, Kyouya's Room, Second Floor Sleeping Area_

Honoka lay listlessly on Kyouya's bed, the solemnity of his gaze that morning forcing the otherwise hyperactive girl into a full workday of contemplation. Had it been so improper for her to show up like that? They had been such good friends - her closest, really - was it wrong for her to have expected him to welcome her back with wide-open arms?

 _Twelve years really does change a lot, then._

She let loose a rather large, aggravated sigh, then heard the quiet click of Kyouya's downstairs door opening. Scrambling up and patting the wrinkles from her clothing, she ran downstairs to greet him.

"Oi, Honoka." He waved at her half-distractedly, loosening his tie and moving to place his folders on his desk. "You can't disappear from a man's life and mysteriously reappear a full twelve years later, expecting him to hide you away from arranged marriage meetings." A twinge of angry energy panged his stomach as he spoke, but he immediately quelled his annoyance.

Whipping out his phone, Kyouya made a note to call Tamaki later and say nearly the same thing - of all days, why had it been today that every absentminded person in his life decided to reappear?

Honoka bowed deeply, exclaiming profuse apologies. "I'm so sorry! I just thought - I just - I don't have anyone else to go to. You're my neighbor and my best friend, Kyouya -"

"Was your neighbor and …" he paused, "... childhood friend. Honoka, I haven't seen you in more than a decade. I'm currently heading the Ootori Group - which you should know; your father's firm manages most of our legal matters and facilitated the change in leadership - and I don't have time for the ghosts of my past to suddenly reappear before me!"

The room's silence greeted them - and it was only then that Kyouya realized he had risen his voice quite considerably. He turned to survey Honoka's face, and saw a look of mildly sad shock on hers.

"Kyouya, I-"

He looked away. What had gotten into him? He hadn't been this frustrated since Tamaki and Haruhi desperately fought to prove their feelings for each other before college, and he had thought that going to Harvard and getting some time away from the hubbub of high school had been good for him. Kyouya was supposed to be running a company, not dealing with the hosts - and certainly not handling Honoka. Her return came with a multitude of emotion - all of which Kyouya had taken purposeful steps to curb and control, especially so in the past few years.

Honoka, however, was livid. She kept it to herself, but standing there and observing him, she recognized that posture. It was the same defensive stance he'd had for the first several months since she moved to Tokyo so many years ago - and it was the one she'd worked so hard to break down. She couldn't stand seeing him like that, working hard to maintain a facade he so clearly was numbing himself with.

"I would have thought that you would be able to make time for me after I never once gave up on you all these years, Kyouya."

He paused. The tone in her voice was odd - sharp and stern - but hadn't she been the one to have given up, leaving without another word?

"What do you-" Kyouya began to snap back and respond, but a sharp rap on his door gave him pause.

* * *

"Hide!" he hissed at Honoka, who had an equally panicked expression on her face and sprinted upstairs as fast as she could with her arms sloppily full of scattered items.

The door opened just as Honoka dived behind Kyouya's bed on the second level. Kyouya turned to see his father at the door with Fuyumi, his older sister, in tow.

"Can I help you, Father?" Kyouya smiled slightly, bowing slightly. "Is everything alright with your dinner plans?"

Yoshio Ootori waved his youngest off. "I was meant to have dinner with your brother-in-law to discuss the latest in our supply order to the overseas branches, but Fuyumi here called as soon as I'd left the house to say that she and her husband would be coming here instead with more interesting news than the global supply chain."

Kyouya's amethyst gaze flicked over to his sister, who was positively brimming with excited energy. "Fuyumi-neesan, out with it already…" he sighed. He'd managed to calm his heart rate down from the shock of having someone nearly discover Honoka's presence - what could possibly be that important?

"We're having another child!" Kyouya's older sister flitted around the room. Her father and little brother stared back blankly.

"Fuyumi… You've already had two children by now. Shouldn't we be at that point that your track record with fertility doesn't take higher conversational priority than the big supply merger we're looking to do?" Yoshio rolled his eyes and began walking out of Kyouya's room - but the slight smile on his face betrayed at least some semblance of joy at his third grandchild.

"Tsk." Kyouya clicked his tongue. "Alright, Fuyumi-neesan, what is it this time?"

"It's a boy, Kyo-chan! Because he'll be our third son, you're going to be his uncle and godfather!"

A wave of irritation hit Kyouya - but that was not nearly as interesting as the strangled noise his father made at the mention of a third son. Both of his children looked at him, but he cleared his throat and simply left the room.

Brother and sister looked at each other curiously, but the annoyance immediately returned to Kyouya's face. "Great, so you're going to endlessly remind me that I came last out of three? Fuyumi-neesan, I worked against those odds for so long that it - according to Tamaki - nearly corrupted my ability to be a human being. I myself don't particularly mind that, but if I do recall correctly you also wanted me not to be so stressed over surpassing father."

"Eeeh? But you have surpassed our older brothers by leaps and bounds - and so young too! And on top of that, very tactfully such that there are little to no proprietary issues between you and them. Why wouldn't we want to make you a godfather?" Fuyumi tugged on his sleeve. "I'm so proud of you, Kyo-chan! It's like a graduation gift as well. Unless.." she looked at him with a slight smile. "... you'd like me to make Tamaki the godfath-"

"Fine, so be it. I'll be his special caretaker or babysitter or whatever it is you and Nobuo want me to do once he's born. You're sure you're not just after something because I'm head of the company now?" A raised eyebrow challenged Fuyumi's credibility, but after a quick moment Kyouya reached out to squeeze her in a quick hug. "It's fine, nee-san."

Looking up at her little brother, she marveled at how much he'd changed since middle school. His years with the hosts and time off to study in the United States had certainly relaxed his emotions and nature - and he still was able to prove himself to their father. It eased her mind to know that he was doing much better than his youth, when he had gone through several rough years.

Fuyumi still found herself being ushered quickly out of her little brother's room - but she silently thanked the stars that she could now leave without worrying so much about him.

* * *

Kyouya rested against the back of his door, sighing in relief that all interruptions were taken care of - for now.

"Honoka, you can come out now," he called, then his breath stuck in his throat. Hung over the side of the handrail of his second floor was a black silk-and-lace camisole - obviously a woman's and therefore logically Honoka's. Shit! Kyouya prayed that his father hadn't seen it.

* * *

Such was not the case. Yoshio Ootori took some time in the hallway to compose himself after hearing that Fuyumi was expecting a third son - it came as a shock and as a grave reminder of what had happened eighteen years earlier. Days would still pass and it would still be difficult to grapple with those memories.

Still - Yoshio knew that was then and this was now. Kyouya had surpassed his expectations and hopes, and the whole Ootori family was in a much better place now. Several grandchildren later, and he was happy to see his family thrive and grow, save for Kyouya's unmarried state-

Wait. Was that… Had his old eyes betrayed him, or had there been a lace black camisole hanging from Kyouya's second floor?

Yoshio paused to think, before continuing the walk to his own den.

 _Maybe Kyouya's marital status won't be a hopeless case after all._

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for reading! Long chapter, with a short flashback. I've got some backstory to Kyouya's past and want to develop Kyouya's family, as the manga/anime only really develops Haruhi and Tamaki's. PLEASE continue to read and review - reviews are more motivating than anything else!

 **Disclaimer:** Only own Honoka - Ouran belongs to their respective licensers!


	4. Trial?

Several weeks later, Kyouya found himself drowning in more paperwork - but now, he had paperwork and several omiai appointments to attend.

It was strange; nearly as soon as Honoka had returned and stumbled into his room those weeks ago, his father had stopped at nothing to accept omiai proposals from various interested business partners. The partners' daughters, however, Kyouya either knew of through old Ouran days or through his own research - and none appealed to him.

Surely his father had been told that Kyouya was the handsomest of his sons? Not that looks mattered much to Kyouya (though they were a welcome advantage) - but according to high society gossip, his brothers Akito and Yuuichi were indeed handsome and took after their father, but paled in comparison to Kyouya's own looks when he himself graduated from college.

Perhaps the pressure was on - Yuuichi, the first son, had been the natural heir until he decided to join Doctors without Borders and fell madly in love with a French doctor (figured, Kyouya thought). Akito, the second son and certainly the most bland of the three - unambitious, dryly supportive of the Ootori legacy, and even more uptight than Kyouya (something none of the host thought possible until the Nanako fiasco) - had trouble impressing women at omiai meetings. As a result, he stayed single and poured his energy into being a feared executive at the company.

Kyouya was only a few years younger than his brothers, but fast approaching the age at which his unmarried status would turn him into bachelor Akito.

He sighed, slamming his back into his chair in frustration. Picking up the folder of upcoming omiai candidates his father had pre-selected, Kyouya read the first page (statistics, of course) - hm. Three lawyers, daughters of the big firms that handled most of the Ootori Group's work; about four doctors (a logical choice), and two daughters of their main distributors.

He'd met all of them nearly once before, and none were interesting. Kyouya sighed. And then it struck him, just as his phone rang loudly on his desk.

* * *

Incoming caller ID? Honoka. Perfect.

"Honoka, I -"

"Kyouya-kun, I have an idea!"

"Let me talk. I'm still recoiling from you turning up out of the blue without so much as a single word for about twelve years - but I need your help."

"I'll make it up to you. I need your help too; it's about these omiai I've been having."

Kyouya sat up straighter in his chair at the word omiai. "Yes… Myself as well. I have the sneaking feeling that we're thinking of the same strategy."

Honoka silently cheered and made a grateful gesture to the gods before responding on her line; "I think so. It'll be perfect and I've no doubt we can make it convincing enough to satisfy them for a while."

"Agreed. Glad to be in business with you."

If Honoka wasn't sure that she was going mad from cracking up a devious scheme to foil her parents' omiai plans, she would swear that she heard a smirk in Kyouya's voice before he hung up.

* * *

"Father? Yes, I received the document, but I'd like to propose a tenth candidate. Why not enter into an omiai with Honoka Yamamura?"

Yoshio was mildly taken aback. He'd mentioned Honoka's name a few weeks ago and watched Kyouya's face to see if his son's infatuation had retained its integrity after nearly twelve years of separation from his childhood friend, but Kyouya's face betrayed nothing at her mention.

Yoshio wasn't blind - he had surveyed the effect Honoka had on his son after they moved to the neighborhood. After the disturbing passing of Yoshio's second wife, Fuyumi and Kyouya's mother, his third son had been severely affected and little else cheered the boy up besides Honoka's friendship.

Takeshi Yamamura was a good friend and partner of Yoshio's, but there had been a reason Honoka wasn't included in Yoshio's approved list of omiai partners.

Honoka was, in Yoshio's eyes, Kyouya's potential Achilles Heel. If their relationship developed much like Yoshio's own with Kyouya's mother…

The elder Ootori closed his eyes, painful memories resurfacing.

No. No person should have had to endure what Yoshio did.

"I'm sorry, Kyouya. I don't find her a wise candidate. You would be better off meeting with the others."

* * *

 **A/N: Disclaimers as usual! This chapter is a little shorter, bear with me please~ Please leave reviews; I'm going to start responding individually to them here!**

 **DiamondThief360:** thanks for your support from chapter 1! I'll need all the luck I can get :)

 **thestrugglesofminyoongi** : your encouragement is greatly appreciated! Glad you find it interesting :)

 **panda808:** thank you so much for your support for all my fics - the reviews help so much, and they're so sweet 3

 **Guest** : please stay tuned! I hope it developes well~


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